Neck tattoo helps authorities identify fraudulent credit card users

A Farmington man was charged with felony financial transaction card fraud after officers used surveillance video to identify his car, and his partner by his neck tattoo.

Michael Lee Daly, 33, was charged in Dakota County District Court last week for allegedly using a number of stolen credit cards at retail locations in Dakota County in May.

The Burnsville Police Department was notified of several fraudulent finical card transactions from credit cards stolen from purses of parked cars in Bloomington and Burnsville in May. More than $2,300 was spent at several retail locations within three hours.

The surveillance video and eyewitnesses revealed that two individuals got into a Chevrolet Cobalt registered to Daly, and the photo was used to identify him at the other locations where the transactions were made.

The officers also saw a “Cancer” symbol tattooed on the back of a second man’s neck. The Dakota County Jail keeps photos and descriptions of tattoos of inmates.

The man was identified as former Farmington resident Kurtis Ray Cornelius, 25, who was charged for four unrelated felonies four days later after leading police on a chase through Eagan, ditched his car at a park, and asked attendees of a youth soccer game for a ride.

He was charged with receiving stolen property, theft, fleeing a police officer, and possessing burglary or theft tools.

Cornelius was also charged for two felonies and a misdemeanor after officers found him sleeping with his car running at an intersection in Apple Valley and discovered 4.79 grams of methamphetamine and stolen property, according to the police report. He’s been convicted of burglary in 2010 and 2013, and possessing a controlled substance in 2013.

Daly faces a maximum penalty six years in jail and/or a $20,000 fine.

Daly was charged earlier this month for fifth-degree possession of a controlled substance. When the Lakeville Police Department went to his residence with a warrant, officers searched his pocket and found a glass pipe with trace amounts of methamphetamine, according to the police report. In plain view on the dresser, officers found bag containing .25 grams of meth.

Daly is facing two theft and fifth-degree possession charges, both felonies, in August, for attempting to steal $1,475 in copper wire from a store.